Honoring our maternal ancestors at San Rafael's 'Mothering Tree'

The Mothering Tree, a seven-foot-tall clutch of reclaimed branches painted gold, was installed in downtown San Rafael on Saturday for people to write notes to their mothers on colorful rice paper "leaves" and tie them to the limbs.

One person wrote to her mom, "Don't be so worried about the kitchen. Can we just have some fun?"

Someone else wrote on a bright pink leaf: "To all the moms in the world."

The installation, scheduled to be in Court Street Plaza on Fourth Street through May 12, Mother's Day, was created by the Fortnight Collective, a group of five San Rafael women artists, all of them mothers themselves.

The concept was inspired by Yoko Ono's Wish Trees, part of the Imagine Peace Project. It's being presented by the Downtown San Rafael Business Improvement District and independent public program producer Shelly Jackson as part of a downtown San Rafael revitalization project.

"San Rafael has the potential to be a really culturally vibrant place," said artist Hannah Merriman.

"We're working with different community groups and artists to bring people downtown," said Carol Thompson, director of the improvement district.

The Mothering Tree captured the attention of 9-year-old Jose Aguilar, who had just played a soccer game in Ross and was still wearing his uniform and cleats. With help from his father, Roberto, he hung a bright red leaf on which he'd written the names of his grandmother and great grandmother, who died recently.

"I met them when we went to Mexico," he remembered. "When I first got there, they were sitting at a table making tortillas."